September 26, 2007

On September 23, Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer Mariana Chew (above) spearheaded planning and turnout for more than 1,000 people for a "Faces Against ASARCO" rally and photo (below) in El Paso, Texas. Community members from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border came together to stand united against the company's plans to reopen its copper smelter in El Paso. "The photo will be placed on a billboard in Austin for Governor [Rick] Perry to see every day," Chew says.

Photo by Robert Ardovino

The event was staged by the Concerned Citizens Against ASARCO coalition, of which the Sierra Club is a member. "The Club took a lead organizing role and provided technical support," says Chew, who was the coalition's go-to person fielding questions about evidence, documents, and studies pertaining to ASARCO. The cities of El Paso, Ciudad Juarez [Mexico], and Sunland Park [New Mexico] participated in media work leading up to the event.

"Federal legislators on both sides of the border recognized our effort and the fact that we had given them the tools to fight ASARCO on a political level," Chew says. ASARCO has a long history of polluting the communities in which it operates. The city won a lawsuit against the company in the 1970s, and the El Paso smelter closed in 1999 with myriad lawsuits still being brought against it. ASARCO applied to renew its state air permit in 2002, prompting the Sierra Club to join a lawsuit to block the move. The Club has been a leader in efforts to keep the smelter closed ever since. The permit is still pending. Read more here and here.

September 19, 2007

In early September, Raleigh became the largest city in North Carolina to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to reduce global warming emissions locally. It also became the 23rd city in the state to be recognized by the Sierra Club as a Cool City for adopting green initiatives like using energy-efficient light bulbs in city buildings, adding more alternative-fuel vehicles to its civic fleet, and expanding the city's recycling program. The Cool Cities program recognizes local governments that commit to reducing carbon dioxide emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels within five years.

North Carolina Cool Cities Director Tom Jensen says more than 100 local Sierra Club members wrote to the City Council, urging them to sign the Agreement, and nearly that many attended a Sierra Club and Beer event the week before the Council vote to build support. "Raleigh has the potential with some of the initiatives it has undertaken to become the greenest city in the Southeast," Jensen says. Pictured above at a September 12 Sierra Club press conference across from City Hall to celebrate Raleigh's Cool status are Sierra Club Capital Group volunteer Marvin Woll, Councilman Thomas Crowder, Group Conservation Chair Tim Reed, Vice Chair Sharon Hazouri, Councilman Russ Stephenson, Environmental Advisory Board Chair Denny Murphy, and Mayor Charles Meeker. Jensen notes that Capital Group Chair Ellen Kinsinger, not pictured, was also key to the Club's campaign. Read more about Smart Energy Solutions the Sierra Club is promoting to help curb global warming.

September 13, 2007

Virginia Sierra Club volunteers on the chapter's energy committee knew that Governor Tim Kaine was working on an energy plan for the Commonwealth, and figured it would have good ideas in it, but they guessed there might be some objectionable recommendations as well. Wanting Virginia residents to be well informed to receive Kaine's plan, chapter leaders drafted a plan of their own and released it a week before the governor released his. And now that Kaine has released the state's plan, media coverage has consistently made comparisons between it and the Club's Citizens Energy Plan for Virginia.

Thanks to the technical prowess of Brooks Cressman, Dick Ball (pictured above at the Club's event to release the plan), Roger Diedrich, Ana Prados, and Ross Shearer, and the editing skills of Barbara Null, the chapter crafted a robust and compelling report. The Citizens Plan features the first effort to assess the state's current polluting energy economy and forecast the business-as-usual projection for future pollution. It also maps out a vision for a clean economy with emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable energy, while phasing out Virginia's dependence on coal and other highly polluting energy sources. The plan demonstrates that Virginia has the resources to cut its carbon dioxide emissions at a rate that will achieve 80 percent reductions by 2050, using proven technology that will create new jobs and make the state a leader in the fight to address global warming.

"It's refreshing to have Governor Kaine's leadership on global warming and energy efficiency," says Virginia Sierra Club Director Mike Town. "The Commonwealth's plan is far from perfect, but it's a big step in the right direction." The Club's Citizens Plan was written entirely by volunteers who brought wide-ranging experience to the project. Cressman, for example, is an engineer who consults for the federal government on wireless spectrum regulations; Diedrich spent 25 years doing energy forecasts for the Department of Energy; and Ball (Ph. D) was lead author on the first International Panel on Climate Change assesments of impacts. Read or download a full copy of the Citizens Energy Plan for Virginia.

In a major victory for the Sierra Club and its allies, on September 12 a federal district court judge in Vermont ruled against foot-dragging automakers in favor of the Club, the states of Vermont and New York, and other environmental groups working to curb global warming emissions. Over the strenuous objections of the auto industry, Judge William Sessions ruled emphatically that New York and Vermont may proceed with enacting the California Clean Car (Pavley) Standards, pending EPA approval. Automakers have repeatedly sued to block states from adopting the standards, which call for increasing the fuel economy of vehicles by 25 percent starting in 2009—significantly more than current federal standards mandate. Already adopted by California and 11 other states, the Pavley Standards will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars by 30 percent when fully implemented in 2016.

"This decision should put the nail in the coffin of the failed arguments of the auto industry," said David Bookbinder, the Club's Chief Climate Counsel. "They used every tired argument about safety, job losses, lack of technology, and doubts about the science of global warming—the same things they have been saying to the public and to Congress for decades. Instead of thinking of excuses, it's time for them to put their immense know-how toward solving some of our most pressing problems." Read the decision, learn more about what the Sierra Club is doing to promote clean car solutions, and sign the Club's petition telling Congress to increase fuel economy standards.

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